hi i can sure identify with what you say, i agree about the inner child, for me my inner child was and probably still is if i stratch away, desperate for love, yet didn't get it, it set me up to have extreme anxiety especially in the matters of love, i bounced from being so needy to isolation, after a painful divorce after a 27 year marriage i am terrified in getting intimately close to people, the split caused a severe breakdown and with hindsight i look back and see that it was a replay in some way of my early years.--the issue of closeness/abandonement, i have lots s friends who i only allow myself to get close to. i make rationalisations that i don't want a relationship as i couldn't stand the pain again, if it split its not the truth though i long for a loving relationship. i imagine that i would be honest about my difficulties if i was to meet someone,there is nothing worse about hiding from each other, we all have difficulties, especially in the matters of love!! if i accept something in myself i'm no longer fighting it, thats the theory and my experience seems to be true, good luck